Forbidden To Love You, My Dragon Professor

Mostly Magic

Nina and Hannah ran a few laps around the building that afternoon, but they were too early to see the professor. Nina had almost been looking forward to seeing him this time, and was almost disappointed that he hadn't come out by the time they were done. The next day she didn't know his whereabouts, but on Wednesday she knew he'd be out there. Hannah, unfortunately, had her classes in the morning, and Nina's was early afternoon. No real reason to be out there to "coincidentally" run by him.

She shook her head as she walked from her class to her dorm. This was stupid. He was a teacher. They were students. He was a dragon. They were... well, mostly human. She was sure Hannah was all human, this girl was all consumed with human things, and if she weren't a human, he'd have known and told her so. Right? Like he'd done for Nina.

She'd gone from avoiding this guy to wanting him to see her in less than two weeks. She didn't understand that at all. He wasn't anything like she knew, and it was engulfing her mind. Since seeing his dragon form and spending that afternoon doing nothing but learning about herself, essentially, there was something always bringing him back to her mind.

She couldn't be becoming infatuated with him. Aside from it being wrong since he was her teacher, in the non-human world, this was probably also wrong. They weren't of the same species, and this was probably all in her mind. She was becoming obsessed with the idea of him, and he was probably just being his teacher-like self, showing her the truth behind her family.

Yet her mind wandered to whether or not he noticed her before all this. He seemed to be everywhere last week, and now when she looked for him he was nowhere in sight. She threw her sweater on and left Hannah a note, since she was in the bath, saying she would be back. She had an idea that Hannah would be a little upset that she went out on her own to see the professor, but she needed reassurance and that she hadn't been dreaming this entire time. Somehow seeing what her mind wanted her to see, playing tricks on her. That Saturday literally never happened.

"You're out late, Nina," came the professor's voice as she walked aimlessly through the grounds. She froze, now unsure of what she would even say to him. Wondering if she were truly insane was something he'd likely laugh at.

"Professor," Nina said, turning to her right as he came closer to her. "I was restless, needed to get out of my room for a little bit. Figured I'd go for a walk." And make sure he was out and still a dragon. That she was still a mythical creature too.

"I am, and you are," he said, nodding to her. "That sort of thing doesn't just go away. You always have been what you are, even if you've only just realized it."

"Seems so bizarre," Nina answered him. He nodded. "One day I'm walking around like I'm human, the next I'm told I'm not. I'm some magical, mythical creature that barely still exists."

"Barely exists, and yet here you are," he added. "Your magic is inside you, you just need to let it out."

"Won't that cause like, a major disruption in like, everything?"

"Not necessarily," he answered. "Walk with me."

Nina followed beside him for a little while, and they literally didn't speak a word for what seemed like forever. Like he was listening to her mind, even though she was more unsure of what to think now than ever.

"Your powers will be something of a challenge to bring forward, because they weren't suppressed, but unknown all these years growing up. Elven children often began using their power from infancy. The moment they could walk, they could also start using their magic. Not a lot, mind, their power grows as they do."

"Maybe I don't actually have any," Nina said, glancing at him. The professor smiled and shook his head at her. "Well I mean, if their power is meant to come out so young, and nothing happened with me, then-"

"No, a child's desire is to be what their parent sees them as, or what their parent wants them to be or expects of them. This changes over time, but the power of a supernatural grows as it's nurtured. Your mother is human, so she expected you to be human as well, and because you naturally wanted to be what she always wanted, your power didn't come out. At least not in a way she would see."

"My eyes," Nina whispered and he nodded. "That makes sense. When I look at her, there's no magic so my eyes never changed."

"And there was rarely anyone around, so she didn't have a chance to see it."

"Right," Nina nodded.

"Why were you thinking that you might have been dreaming this past week and a half?" Professor Landrick asked, and Nina felt her face getting warm.

"Oh uh, well, it just seemed like everywhere I went, you were there. All of a sudden after we spent Saturday teaching me about my other family, you were nowhere. It just felt weird."

"My apologies," he said. "I had to take leave for a couple days."

"Oh," Nina said, glancing over at him. His eyes were already on her, and their eyes met instantly.

"I love how your eyes change like that," he said quietly. Nina's face felt hot again, and she looked away. "I'm sorry," he said, bringing her attention back to him again. "I shouldn't be talking to you like that. You're my student."

"I don't mind that," she said, absent-mindedly. She mentally smacked herself for just blurting it out. "I should go back to my room," she said suddenly, stopping mid-walk. She felt her chest tightening just a little as she tried to figure out how to excuse herself without needing to run, again. "I'm glad you're back though and that I'm not crazy."

"Me as well," he smiled softly at her. "I'll see you in class."

"Mmm," she hummed and turned around to head back. As she got further away she let her mind wander, figuring he couldn't hear her thoughts this far away. That didn't turn out how she expected it would, but at the same time, she wasn't disappointed. She just got anxious and nervous about where the conversation was headed.

"Was Professor Tyson out there?" Hannah asked as Nina came back inside. "You weren't gone long."

"Yeah, he was," Nina responded, kicking her shoes off on the mat. "He was gone for a few days, that's why we didn't see him on Monday when we were out."

"Ah, makes sense. There were days when he and I weren't in contact with each other. He said he sometimes needs to take off for a few days on business. He does something more than teaching, but he never said what it was."

"Ooh, like some secret life that no one can know about," Nina said, grinning at Hannah. "Both terrifying and thrilling at the same time."

"Oh Nina, I don't think it's like that."

"What if he's like, some kind of hit man or something?" Nina laughed and Hannah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, I'm thinking about it the wrong way."

"Definitely are."

"Well, Psychology tomorrow. I'm heading to the gym after, want to come?"

"Nah, I have to work."

"That sucks. Sorry," Nina said. Hannah just nodded. "Maybe I'll drop by. Buy something just because I want to hang out." It was Hannah's turn to laugh. "What?"

"You'd seriously do that?"

"Why not?"

"It's weird."

"I like to think of it as quirky. Good night, Hannah."

"Good night, Nina."

With that, and closing the door behind her, Nina went to bed thinking about the conversation she'd had with Professor Landrick. Back to the pictures and little statues of what her magical family looked like. Long blonde hair, liquid gold eyes - all of them, all the time. Yet here she was, dark hair, dark eyes, only gold when she's staring through a magic illusion. The human side was evident in her features.

Waking up the next morning, her mind was still on the differences between her and her unknown family. They had their powers basically at birth. She hadn't learned anything or even knew about herself until Professor Landrick confirmed what she was.

After Psychology, Hannah went directly to work, and Nina went the other way toward the gym. After spending some time there doing resistance training - and being watched by several people - she decided she'd attracted enough attention and left. Showering, changing, and grabbing her things, she went down to the store.

"I'm not done for another couple hours," she said with a frown. Nina half smiled at her and went in to browse. "Looking for anything specific?"

"I was thinking about paying for an extra class," Nina said and Hannah frowned. "I want to learn how to draw."

"So take a night class once a week or something off campus," Hannah suggested. "This way it's not like needing to do homework for a million classes, it's just walk in, do some art, go home. You already have a lot to do."

Nina looked at Hannah. Hannah was right. There was no need to take an actual worth-marks class on campus just to learn how to draw. "I'd have to talk to my mom anyway. Is there anywhere I could get some art supplies cheaper?"

"If you count Walmart or something, yeah," Hannah noted, and Nina thought about the closest store. Really was too far to walk this late in the afternoon. She had some extra money to get some art pencils and a sketchbook, but if she was going to take an art class, she'd have to talk it over with her mom first.

"I'll just wait, I guess."

"You could just start by using the pencils you have and the blank paper you bought a couple weeks ago. Most people start that way, anyway."

"True," Nina said, nodding. "Yeah maybe I'll try that."

Friday she walked in to class with Hannah and her mind hadn't left the idea of how different she was to her family. Both sides, really. She wasn't human, but she wasn't an elven mage, either. She was stuck somewhere in between.

Professor Landrick looked up as she was struggling in her mind about it, and his eyes focused directly on her. If he could hear everyone else louder, how could he hear her whispers of thoughts? Looking back, she asked him, Are you listening to me?

He nodded and then looked down at his papers.

Great. Throughout class she was trying to pay attention but her identity crisis was overwhelming her. It seemed to show on his face that he could tell what she was thinking about as he talked about sirens, and how they've changed throughout time according to people's thoughts of what these creatures really are.

"Pop quiz," Professor Landrick said, the only words that broke into Nina's head and she sat up. Had she heard it or was it something he said out loud? No one else seemed to move except her. She glanced sideways at Hannah, who was still taking notes. She looked back to the professor and he looked at her briefly before looking back at the screen. "Can anyone tell me what the modern sirens look like? Nina?"

"Um, they've become more like mermaids, sir." He nodded for her to continue. "In the way that they're not the bird-like women anymore, but have somehow adopted fish tails and swim in the ocean, their song attracting sailors and tricking them into jumping overboard and killing them, usually. I'm not sure whether it's the fall that kills them or the sirens themselves, though."

"Very good," he praised her and Hannah nudged her. She looked at Hannah who winked and whispered to her.

"Here I thought you weren't even paying attention."

Nina rolled her eyes and looked back at the screen. He'd clicked to an exact picture of what she described. He looked around the room and paused her one more time. "You passed," he said in her head and she smiled a little bit. "Pay attention to class," he added, before looking away. She cleared her throat just a little and looked down at her book. She hadn't written a single thing this time. As class ended, the thing she feared would happen, did.

"Nina Reyes, I'd like to talk with you in my office."

She put her head down on her binder and Hannah patted her back before moving behind her and leaving her there alone. She slowly put her things back in her bag and walked back to the aisle where she moved down toward the office. He'd already disappeared inside.

"Yes, Professor?" she asked.

"I know it's a lot to take in, about what you are, but you need to be able to focus on classes," he said, putting a couple books away, not looking at her. "Close the door." Her chest was in knots as she closed the door. "Lock it, if you don't mind." She glanced back at him for a moment, and he turned to look at her before putting the last book on his shelf. She twisted the lock.